Performance Background
Jason has had the pleasure of performing at countless venues across New York, southern Ontario and middle Tennessee. Many of these performances have been with the Mohawk Valley Frasers from Rome, NY and Nashville Pipes and Drums. Jason also performs as a soloist for private events, weddings and funerals. Over the past two decades, he has also had the pleasure of performing as a soloist with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, Le Moyne Opera, and the Elders. As a member of the Frasers, Jason also performed with the Chieftains. Formal Education Jason is currently a graduate teaching assistant at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN, where he is earning a M.M. in choral conducting. He also received a B.M. from the Crane School of Music in Potsdam, NY, where he majored in music education. Competition Jason has competed with bagpipe bands for more than 20 years, mainly with Mohawk Valley Frasers, and more recently, the Nashville Pipes and Drums. With the majority of his competitive years in grade 3 bands, Jason has also competed with both grade 4 and grade 5 bands as a piper, piping instructor, snare drummer, tenor drummer and bass drummer. Jason has also competed as professional Drum Major since 2009 within the EUSPBA, earning many championships and champion supreme titles. Jason has also competed abroad in Ontario, British Columbia and Scotland, placing favorably at the world championships and twice winning the North American championships. Individual Instruction Having worked with students since 2000, Jason’s approach to teaching the bagpipes is built on a solid foundation of precise fingerwork, reading music and building musicianship skills along the way. This approach to instruction is built into a comprehensive program in which the student learns not only to execute properly but continually builds on a set of skills that include: listening, reading, writing, and improvising bagpipe music. Not only are these musical skills addressed within his instruction; varied historical perspectives, personal experience, competition and many other topics will be introduced from time to time to offer a broader knowledge of the bagpipe world. |